baebee



(No Model.) I i P. M. BARBER.-

' SHIPS LOCKER.

N0. 395,648 Patented Jan. 1, 1889.

lllllllllllrl IIHIIIIIIIIIH! IIIIIIHIIIIIIHIIIHIIIII L K 1 ITED STATES PATENT rricn.

SHIPS LOCKER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 395,648, dated January 1, 1889.

Application filed June 23, 1888. Serial No. 277,958. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRANCIS M. BARBER, of lVashington, in the District of Columbia, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Receptacles or Lockers for Ilse on Shipboard, which improvement is fully set forth in the following specification.

This invention has reference to the arrangements on shipboard for storing the mens clothes, the mess materials, provisions, &c., and has for its object to do away with the inconveniences and disadvantages of the arrangements now used for this purpose.

Under the system at present prevailing on ships of war and other vessels the men are provided each with a bag or sack about three feet in length by one foot in diameter, in which all his clothes and personal articles are kept. These bags are made fast to and hang from a rod or bar, known as the jackstay, runnin parallel with the side or bulkhead and at a distance of about ten inches therefrom. This system is attended with many inconveniences. The contents of the bags or receptacles are diflicult of access, they are hard to keep clean and free from vermin, and take up considerable unnecessary space, which is very valuable on shipboard. According to this invention lockers are provided which are secured against the wall, in the space usually occupied by the bags suspended from the jack-stay, these lockers being made of wire mesh supported on iron frames. The lockers may be fitted into all available spaces. They are compact, are easily cleaned and kept in a cleanly condition and free from vermin, are convenient of access, and greatly economize the space, having a much larger capacity than the bags-which occupy more room-and are exposed to thorough ventilation.

The form of construction preferablyadopted as best calculated to accomplish the objects of the invention consists of a series of lockers whose six sides are all formed of reticulated material; but when arranged against a partition or bulk-head, as would commonly be done, the reticulated sheet forming the rear of the locker becomes unnecessary, and therefore may be omitted.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention, Figure I being a plan view of part of a vessel between decks; Fig. II, details in front elevation and transverse section, show ing a series of the lockers; and Fig. III, a perspective view showing, on a larger scale, a single locker constructed in accordance with the invention.

I11 Fig. I, A is the side; a, a partition or bulk-head of avessel, and b I) represent groups of lockers arranged in convenient places between decks. The construction of the lockers is shown in Fig. II. The framework consists of three pieces of iron, the uprights 0, some of which are. riveted at their upper ends to the bottom beam, B, of the deck, the longitudinal bars (Z, riveted to the uprights, and the flanged cross-pieces 6. By means of these pieces the space is divided into cubes of, say, twenty inches each way. The lockers, of course, may be of different sizes. The tops, bottoms, fronts, and both sides of all. the lock ers are, as shown in Figs. I and II, formed by square sheets of wire cloth or mesh upon square iron frames, so that the lockers are open on all sides, except the back, permitting thorough ventilation and offering the greatest facility to the process of cleaning. The frame constituting the front of each locker is mounted on hinges g, forming a door, and provided with a lock, h.

As shown in Fig. III, the back f, as well as the other sides of the locker, is formed of wire-cloth, this being the form of construction preferred when the lockers are not set against a wall.

As shown in Fig. I, the tiers of lockers may extend laterally to any width, and, as shown, there are three tiers, one above the other; but the number of tiers may be more or less.

There is, as shown, a free space of from siX to ten inches left under the lower tier of lockers, and preferably, also, there is a similar space above the upper row of lockers.

I claim- 1. The series of lockers herein described, consisting of a snpporting-frame and sheets of open-work or reticulated material separating adjacent lockers from each other, and forming the tops, bottoms, and sides of all th lockers, substantially as described.

2. The series or tiers of lockers arranged against abulk-head or partition of the vessel and comprising a frame-work of vertical, horizontal, and cross pieces, tops, bottoms, and side Walls of Wire cloth or mesh for each locker, and doors of the same material, said hulk-head 0r partition forming the backs of the lockers, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed this Specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

F. M. BARBER.

\Vitnesses:

A. POLLOK,

PHILIP MAURO. 

